1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
183 
posed position in the garden, and was filled 
eyery morning with water, which kept the sand 
constantly and thoroughly wet. Excepting in 
two cases, they all lived nicely, and by the set- 
ting in of fall had roots two or more inches in 
length. I then potted them oft' singly, in sand, 
loam, and manure mixed, in three-inch pols. 
On the approach of winter, the pots were im- 
mersed to the tops in sand and covered over with 
brush, over which I placed a good layer of 
leaves and fresh horse-manure. Three weeks 
ago they were all exhumed, and otdy two of 
the pots found to be broken by the frost, whilst 
all the plants were as fresh and green (except- 
ing the absence of leaves) as the day they were 
buried. Up to this time they have been exposed 
in a window facing south, and not one of them 
contains less than fifty leaves, and all have a 
fair prospect of budding within a fortnight. 
I have learned more from an experience 
like the above than I gained in poring over a 
learned treatise. If any beginner can be bene- 
fited by it, he or she is doubly welcome. 
Water-Cress Cultivation. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
When I wrote my work on Market-Garden- 
ing I must have passed over this plant too has- 
tily, as I find more of my readers have asked to 
be further instructed in the matter of its culti- 
vation than on that of any other vegetable. I 
have received three letters the past week, two 
from Maryland, ami one from Virginia. In each 
instance the question is asked whether it is 
necessary to clear the sides of streams(intended 
for the planting of water-cress) from grass, 
shrubs, or weeds ? 
Water-cress can be best cultivated in places 
where the si reams run through a level tract. 
Supposing the stream to be an average of a foot, 
deep and six or eight feet wide running through 
a meadow, a good plan for cultivation is to 
make excavations laterally — say in beds 5 feet 
wide (frith alleys between 5 feet), at a depth of 
say 8 inches, or at such a depth as to be flooded 
by tlie stream when it. is of average depth or, 
when shallow, by damming it up so as to flood 
the beds. 
The advantage of having the beds excavated 
at right-angles to the stream rather than par- 
allel with it is, that in the event of freshets the 
crop is less liable to be washed away. The 
length and number of the beds excavated, must, 
of course, be determined by circumstances. 
Water-cress seeds germinate freely in earth 
when kept saturated; hence the beds when pro- 
perly leveled and pulverized by digging and 
raking should be slightly flooded — enough to 
saturate the soil only until the seeds germinate 
—for, of course, if the beds were filled up with 
water the seeds would be washed off. After the 
seedlings have started so as to show green, the 
water may be gradually let on as they develop. 
Probably the best lime of sowing the seed 
would be, for the latitude of New York, about 
the middle of August. When Water-cress is 
found growing naturally the beds can be made 
by setting the plants six or twelve inches apart 
each way. When the cultivation is once fairly 
begun there is no difficulty about forming new 
beds, as few plants grow more rapidly when 
proper conditions are present. If the crop is 
planted or sown the middle of August, it will 
have spread all over the beds by November. 
The streams being full in autumn the beds will be 
fully flooded so as to protect the plants during 
winter. It is always found wild growing best 
in clear, shallow, slowly-running water with a 
sand or gravelly bottom — and as nature is al- 
ways the surest guide to all successful cultiva- 
tion, the nearer it can be imitated the better the 
success. I find it is one of the plants the culture 
of which is not very easy to give by writing, as 
so much must be determined by the circum- 
stances of locality. Wherever a suitable stream 
is at command the experiment of growing 
Water-cress is worth trial, especially when we 
know that it, in many cases, pays for a given 
area six or eight times more than any other 
vegetable cultivated, provided it can be sold 
in the markets of New York or Philadelphia. 
The Winter Nelis. 
This old favorite maintains its high reputa- 
tion as an amateur fruit, and should have a 
place in any list of a dozen pear-trees for the 
garden. The illustration gives a very correct 
representation of the pear. It. is thus described 
by Downing: " Fruit of medium size, or usually 
a little below it, roundish, obovate, narrowed in 
near the stalk. Skin yellowish-green at matu- 
rity', dotted willi gray russet, and a good deal 
covered with russet patches and streaks, espe- 
cially on the sunny side. Stalk an inch and a 
half long, bent, and planted in a narrow cavity. 
Calyx open, with stiff, short divisions, placed in 
a shallow basin. Flesh yellowish-while, fine- 
grained, buttery, and very molting, abounding 
with juice, of a rich, saccharine, aromatic flavor. 
In perfection in December, and keeps until thu 
middle of January." 
Along the shores of the Sound in Connecticut 
this pear is a solid russet, and we have never 
seen it specimen of any other color. The wind- 
falls ripen in November. Those remaining 
upon the tree until that time may be barreled 
on a dry, sunny day, headed up tight, placed on 
the north side of a fence or building until there 
is danger of freezing, and then removed to a 
cool cellar. We have kept ours this season in 
the same barrels with the Vicar of Winktield, 
and they have kept quite as well its that stand- 
ard winter variety. At the middle of January 
they were quite as hard, without any evi- 
dence of decay among them. The temperature 
of the cellar had been regulated by a thermo- 
meter, and kept between 35° and 40°, or as near 
40° as possible. By bringing a few of them 
into a warm room, they ripened up readily as 
they were wanted, and we had the pleas- 
ures of the October fruit-yard in mid- 
winter. We want now, more than all things 
else in pear-culture, good winter varieties, that 
will take the place of the fall fruits when they 
are gone. Thus far the number is very limited. 
The Winter Nelis is entirely satisfactory, good 
enough to please the most fastidious taste, and 
keeping with as much facility as a good winter 
apple. The fruit room in the cellar is entirely 
practicable, and within reach of every farmer 
who has a home of his own. It will be safe to 
plant or graft the Winter Nelis this spring. 
Connecticut. 
The Grape-Vines. 
— • — 
The sudden shutting down of winter occurred 
before all our vines were pruned. Wo found 
upon resuming the work this spring that with 
many varieties, such as Eumelan and Iona, the 
wood, although not dead, had not the lively 
look proper to if. Wherever the vigor of the 
vines has been weakened, severe pruning is the 
only way in which to recover lost ground. If 
vines start, fully rub out the majority of the buds 
and throw the strength into a few. Pruning 
before the leaves are well expanded will lead to 
bleeding; this is less injurious than is imagined, 
yet it is unpleasant, and if the buds are re- 
moved now the canes can be cut away later. 
Forcing Lettuce in Greenhouses. 
BT PETEK HENDERSON. 
One of the readers of the Agriculturist (J. C. 
S.) requests me to state if I can why some of his 
Lettuce plants become affected with a species 
of mildew or rust, which, beginning in the cen- 
ter of the plant, gradually spreads over the 
whole. — The disease referred to is not an un- 
common one, and has of late years been quite 
troublesome in some sections, particularly dur- 
ing midwinter. I am not certain of the cause, 
and can offer no cure — except to advise that 
great care should be taken to have the plants 
grown freely, and without any sudden cheek by 
chilling or by the extremes of drouth or mois- 
ture. We find in the culture of plants under 
glass, that some species are particularly sensi- 
tive to such checks — some varieties of the Rose, 
for instance, if, when in a particular condition of 
growth, the temperature for a few hours is re- 
duced from Go" to 40°, at night, or if a frosty 
south-east wind is allowed to play on the leaves 
for even ten minutes, or if allowed to dry so 
that the plant wilts, mildew will to a certain- 
ty be developed in twenty-four hours. The 
Verbena, Heliotrope, and Petunia are equally 
sensitive to ill-usage, only the trouble affect- 
ing these is of another character — when Ihey 
get diseased or rusted. The microscope reveals 
the presence of an insect, which we presume is 
a consequence of the disease, just as when we 
find the mildeio on the Rose. The microscope 
shows it to he a fungus, as beautifully developed 
as the Mushrooms or Toadstools — which are 
higher types of the same family. In both these 
instances it is probable that both these parasiti- 
cal affections, the mildew on the Rose or this 
tiny crab-like insect that we find on the dis- 
eased Verbena, come only when the plant has 
become debilitated by disease. I am inclined 
to think that the Lettuce disease is also caused 
by some ill-usage at some period of its growth, 
for we find that it is rarely seen when the crop 
is grown in the open ground in spring or sum- 
mer. The remedy suggested then when forcing 
is to prepare the plants carefully so that no 
sudden check is given — and also that the soil 
used on the benches be fresh, and the manuro 
used be thoroughly rotted and well mixed 
through the soil. Fumigating with tobacco 
should also be done twice each week. 
Flowers for Cutting. 
— — ■ 
Some one — we think it is Mr. Vick in his 
catalogue — suggests that every gardener should 
have a bed from which every one is at liberty 
to cut flowers at will. The suggestion is an ex- 
cellent one, and embodies what we have long 
practiced ! One does not like to have his show- 
beds cut from by others, and does not like to 
have visitors go away empty-handed, and a re- 
serve bed overcomes all difficulties. We put 
out a few Heliotropes, Rose-Geraniums, China 
and Tea-Roses, Carnations and other Pinks, and 
Cuphea platycentra, invaluable for its green as 
well as for flowers, then sow some mignonette, 
Sweet Alyssum— Candy-tuft— and if there is 
room some Sweet Peas, and there are always 
materials at hand for a choice bouquet. 
